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Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, awarded June 2017

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Tenth Anniversary!

Standing room only at the Centre's Tenth Anniversary celebrations!
[more]

Fundraising Roundup 2023

What a great year we have had in terms of financial support from many places!
[more]

Raffle!

A selection of wonderful prizes donated by our amazing clients for our annual Christmas Raffle. To be drawn on 13th December.

Fundraising Roundup

What a great year we have had in terms of financial support from many places!

Including the latest news about Catherine's Rowathon fundraiser!
[more]

Triathlon success!

John has completed a triathlon with rowing, climbing and cycling events supported by the centre's power assisted exercise equipment
[more]

Triple your donations to our Long-covid service on 18th and 19th June 2021

Our new service to assess the benefits of power-assisted exercise for those affected by Long-covid has been chosen by Greenham Trust to be one of the charities to receive double match funding in the two days 18th and 19th June. Donations towards this important project will be accepted and double matched on 18th and 19th June on The Good Exchange fund raising platform
[more]

Winter 2020/21

We are delighted to report grants from One Family Foundation, Keep Berkshire Active, Berkshire Nurses and Relief in Sickness Trust and the West Berkshire Community Fund, to help with equipment upgrades, IT and general resilience. Our very warmest thanks go to all these organisations for their support.

Autumn 2020

We have completely revised our layout to ensure that we can maintain 2 metre social distancing throughout, which is vital to protect the health needs of our clients, many of whom are either elderly or health-vulnerable. Much thought has gone into every aspect about how the Centre must operate in light of Covid-19. Our clients all seem to appreciate how we have tackled this to ensure their safety.

New Patron - Richard Benyon

West Berkshire Therapy Centre is delighted to announce that Richard Benyon has agreed to become a Patron alongside existing Patrons Lady Anne Hallifax, Jacqueline Scoins-Cass MBE and Professor Christine Collins FRCP. Mr Benyon is a former MP for Newbury, a Trustee of the Englefield Charitable Trust, holds several directorships and is an ardent supporter of numerous charitable ventures.

Newbury Bridge Club

Newbury Bridge Club have come up Trumps with their annual Charity efforts for 2019.
[more]

Santa Fun Run 2019

Hazel. Mike and Norman turned out on a cool 1st December Sunday morning to urge on over 160 Santa Fun runners, who ran around Newbury's streets to raise funds for Newbury Rotary Club's chosen charities, of which we are delighted to be one.
[more]

Two grants awarded in a month

In the space of a week, West Berkshire Therapy Centre is delighted to have been awarded a grant of £3,000 from Greenham Common Trust and separately £5,000 from Berkshire Community Foundation.
[more]

David Wilson Homes Charity of the Month

On 21st August we were delighted that Fiona Smith and Adele Kelly visited the Centre and presented us with a cheque from David Wilson Homes, being their August Charity of the Month.
[more]

Newbury Bridge Club - Annual charity night

On 16th August Newbury Bridge Club held its annual charity night, which raised close to £4,000 for our Centre!
[more]

Boules in the Market Place

For the fourth year in a row, volunteers from the Centre manned a stall in Newbury Market Place when the annual Rotary Boules event took place on 9th June. [more]

Our Fifth Anniversary!

Over 100 staff, volunteers, clients and invited guests joined us on 1st April to celebrate five years of providing our service. In that time we have helped over 1,000 clients, have provided over 50,000 individual exercise sessions and in our best ever week recently we provided 294 individual sessions that week.

2018 Year-end roundup news

A fantastic collection of news of donations and fundraising through:

  • Greenham Common Trust
  • Homebase
  • Waitrose
  • Co-Op
  • Christmas Raffle
  • Aldermaston & Wasing Show
[more]

Waitrose Featured Charity of the month - October 2018

We will be one of the featured charities of Waitrose Thatcham throughout October. We want to encourage as many people as possible who shop at Waitrose to put their green tokens in our box. We will get a share of £1,000 (split between three charities) at the end of the month!

Aldermaston & Wasing Show

A team of eleven volunteers manned our annual stall at the Aldermaston & Wasing Show on a sunny 1st September, raising just over £150, raising awareness and making many useful contacts with those in need of our service. Well done and thank you to everyone involved!

Rotary Club Boules Event, Newbury

On 10th June members of the fund-raising team manned our stall at the annual Boules event in Newbury Market Place, organised by Newbury Rotary Club.
[more]

Aldermaston & Wasing Show

On 2nd September eight WBTC volunteers helped to set up and man our stall at the 75th Aldermaston and Wasing Show. We were one of two charities of the year being supported by the Show organisers and we look forward to receiving a share of the proceeds of their renowned 'Duck Race' once the outcome of the event is known.
[more]

Quiz Night

Another Quiz Night on 25th August raised a wonderful £620. Thanks to Catherine, Margaret and David for organising the event, also to the Conservative Club that provided the venue at no charge, to the caterers, to everyone who donated raffle prizes and to the 75 plus who attended on the night, making a very successful evening all round. The questions were tough, meaning that many teams spent much of the evening looking thoughtful, doubtful or unsure and everyone deserved a prize for trying. There were a lot of 'prize winners' as three teams had to share the wooden spoon!

Masonic Charity help

We are delighted that volunteers from the Berkshire Masonic Charity have not only decorated our staff room but have also now assembled some storage units so that the staff room is finally a more comfortable and less cluttered place for staff and volunteers to take their breaks. Many thanks to the hard-working Berkshire Masonic Volunteer Team, cheerfully led by Mike.

St James's Place Foundation Gant

We are most grateful to the St James's Place Foundation for a grant of £500 towards further equipment that we need to purchase in response to ideas from those using our service. We are seeking further capital funds, sufficient to buy an Ultrasonic Relaxer Chair, also to upgrade some of our range of existing chairs with interactive technology.

Masonic Charitable Foundation Votes Needed!

We need your vote! Help us win up to £25,000 by voting in the MCF Community Awards

June 2017 - Queen's Award!!

On 2nd June 2017 the London Gazette announced that West Berkshire Therapy Centre has been awarded the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, just three years after first starting its service. The award is equivalent to an MBE for a voluntary organisation!
[more]

March 2017

West Berkshire Therapy Centre is delighted to have been adopted by the Aldermaston and Wasing Show as one of this year's two chosen charities
[ read more... ]

We are delighted to have received further grant aid from two sources this month: Firstly £2,000 from Englefield Trust, followed by £4,000 from Berkshire Community Foundation, all to help us with general running costs and developing our service. We are immensely grateful for the opportunities these grants provide, to help us further to improve the way we make a difference for our clients.

February 2017

We are most grateful to the Berkshire Masonic Charity for providing a team of volunteers to fit new blinds and to decorate our staff room with paint supplied by Berkshire Community Foundation. We are most grateful for these acts of practical help, improving the operating and working environment for our clients and staff, following their earlier support in helping to fund our automatic door opener.

2nd July

Once again we were on the streets of Newbury, this time with the help of Newbury Branch of David Clulow Opticians, courtesy of the Branch Director, Scott Waters, who sponsored our gazebo ... [ read more ]

26th June

A big thank you to Rotary Club of Newbury for allowing us pride of place next to the French Boules event they held in Newbury Market Place on Sunday 26th June ... [ read more ]

West Berkshire Therapy Centre New Home!

West Berkshire Therapy Centre has moved to its new home! ... [ read more ]

West Berkshire Therapy Centre march on!

West Berkshire Therapy Centre has announced that it has been awarded registered charity status at the same time that is to relocate to much larger premises at Frank Hutchins Hall in Thatcham on 1st April 2016, just two years after first opening.

Race Night - Thursday 29th October

Our Race Night raised a wonderful £878 for the Centre! Many thanks to everyone who helped organise the event, attended on the night or provided raffle prizes and support

Reducing the risk of pressure sores for wheelchair users

Staff at the Therapy Centre invited the NHS Wheelchair and Seating Service to hold a 'surgery' at the Centre ... [ read more ]

Relocation of West Berkshire Therapy Centre

We are moving in October from Clerewater Place to our new address!

Charity Event success!

We are delighted to have received a cheque for £4,500 from Donnington Valley Golf Club, money raised on their charity day on 18th July. It is super to have so much support from the local golfing community. Thank you to everyone who took part and helped make the event such a success and thanks to those of our service users who proposed us to be a beneficiary of this wonderful event.

Could you help the Trustees of West Berkshire Therapy Centre
find land, premises or a business partner for its
Community Hydrotherapy Pool Project?

Expression of interest
Click here for document

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News

2024: Mar
2023: Dec
2022: Dec | Aug
2021: Jun | May
2020: Dec | Oct | Jul | May | Mar
2019: Dec | Nov | Aug | Jun | Apr | Mar
2018: Nov | Oct | Sept | June
2017: December | September | August | June | March | February
2016: July | June | April | January
2015: November | October | September | July | May | February
2014: December | November | October | September | August | July | June

Tenth Anniversary!

On Thursday 21st March, Frank Hutchings Main Hall was filled to 'standing room only', due to so many of West Berkshire Therapy Centre's clients, well-wishers, staff and volunteers and community leaders, turning out to celebrate the charity's tenth anniversary. The Centre's Chairman, Norman Casson, noted that over 100,000 individual exercise therapy sessions have been provided since the Centre opened, helping over 1,000 adults with mobility problems to keep more mobile and independent. Following a small start in 2014, the Centre has doubled its floor area and its number of items of motorised equipment and is now open for 35 hours each week, compared to the initial 20 hours a week, all in response to a strong and growing demand for its service. Two clients have attended the Centre since its first month of opening and were awarded certificates for their commitment to exercising to ensure their well-being. One client gave a personal testimony as to how the Centre had helped her overcome mobility issues that had prevented her from working, but she has since been able to work for several years, following help from the Centre. A raffle raised over £1,700 and a huge celebration cake was enjoyed by everyone present.

Photo (L to R) Greenham Trust CEO, Chris Boulton; Mayor of Newbury, Nigel Foot; Deputy Lieutenant of Berkshire, Susan Roberts; Mayor of Thatcham, Mark Lillycrop, and Chairman of West Berkshire Council, Jeremy Cottam, prepare for West Berkshire Therapy Centre Chairman, Norman Casson, to cut the tenth anniversary celebration cake in front of a packed out Frank Hutchings Hall.

Raffle!

A selection of wonderful prizes donated by our amazing clients for our annual Christmas Raffle. To be drawn on 13th December.

2023 End of Year Roundup

We are delighted to report another excellent year of fund raising, that has allowed us to keep afloat, to move forwards and to replace some of our equipment as we approach our tenth anniversary.

Voluntary contributions from clients remain our main source of income and thank you to all our clients for the contributions they make. The Good Exchange has again provided the largest source of other funds, being a mix of donations from local Trusts, individual supporters and match funding from Greenham Trust, so far bringing in nearly £28k this year. This included donations from The Peter Baker Foundation, the Englefield Trust and The Albert Hunt Trust who gifted us £2k each, also from The Miss Lawrence Trust which gifted us £1,500. Also via The Good Exchange we were delighted to be granted £1k by Thatcham Council and more recently £770 by Greenham Parish Council, in recognition of the support we provide for their parishioners.

A magnificent grant of £19k+ from West Berkshire Council's Community Levy Fund enabled us to purchase three Thera-Trainer replacement exercise bikes. Newbury & District branch of Parkinson's UK and of Newbury & District MS Society funded therapy for their members to the tune of over £11k between them. Four organisations provided grants of £5k each; Tesco in the Community, The Forrester Family Trust, Berkshire Community Foundation and The February Foundation. Gift Aid linked to client voluntary contributions brought in over £4k. Our partnership with the Berkshire Long Covid service brought in £2k from The Royal Berkshire Hospital Trust, to fund treatments and assessments for those affected by Long Covid. The Helen Robertson Trust gifted us £1k during the Autumn and Newbury Rotary Club supported us with £300 from one of their fund raising events. Our ever-supportive and enthusiastic staff raised £800 from organising raffles. Also some significant donations were received from anonymous supporters. A huge thank you to everyone who raised funds or made donations through the year; amounting to over £100,000!

In addition to replacing our three Thera-Trainer exercise bikes we have replaced all the major working parts of our Treadmill, extending its life by about eight years or so and we have the first of our Shapemaster (Innerva) replacement chairs on order, with another being overhauled to extend its life.

We were delighted to welcome Gill Brunsdon to our Board of Trustees and Julie Bennett onto our staff team during the year, also to have increased our very important and hugely appreciated volunteer team to cope with the growth we are seeing as we move forwards.

Rowathon

Throughout the whole of 2022, much respected part time member of staff, Catherine Belcher, has been using West Berkshire Therapy Centre's power-assisted 'Seated Rower' to keep herself more mobile and to help ease her aches and pains, with the equipment helping her to make repeated, gentle rowing strokes in short sessions each week throughout the year.

Along the way she has also gently burnt off a lot a calories, rowing the equivalent of an amazing 162 miles between 1st January and 31st December, raising just over £1,000 towards the Centre's running costs in the process.

This is a truly magnificent achievement and is a testimony not only to how the Centre's equipment has helped to improve Catherine's well-being, but is an inspirational message to others as to how they also might use our equipment and meet their own challenging targets. Well done and thank you Catherine!

John Holt, Trustee, West Berkshire Therapy Centre

December 2022

2022 has been another successful year, with use of our service building well, back towards where we were before the three lock downs we were obliged to endure. Immediately after the lock downs we were seeing little more than half the clients we had been seeing previously, due to many of our clients being concerned about venturing out and risking catching covid. Now we are back to over 80% of our best footfall and the numbers are growing month by month. It is great to see more and more people returning to take exercise and recovering lost mobility.

Our finances have been helped greatly by income from numerous sources. Client contributions were the single largest source of income. In addition we received income from the following important sources:

Legacies£25,000
Greenham Trust£24,417
Anonymous donations: in excess of£15,000
Edward Gostling Foundation£10,000
Parkinson's UK, Newbury & District£7,000
Berkshire Community Foundation£5,000
Childwick Trust£5,000
Get Berkshire Active£3,520
February Foundation£3,000
MS Society, Newbury & District£2,820
Sir Jules Thorn Trust£2,000
Gerald Palmer Eling Trust£2,000
Barratt Foundation£1,000

We are immensely grateful for this support which has allowed us to fund our way through the aftermath of lock downs as well as to grow our Hydrotherapy funds.

Fundraising Roundup

What a great year we have had in terms of financial support from many places!
Just before the end of 2021 we were delighted to receive a further grant of £4,000 from Berkshire Community Foundation, who have been sterling supporters of our work on several previous occasions. That was a lovely Christmas present!
Our winter raffle raised £505 and thanks to our hard working staff for organising that and to everyone who donated prizes.
The sale of CDs of 'The JK Project' raised £500 and thanks to our keen supporter, John Genge, for helping us in this novel way!
That was quickly followed by a cheque for £500 from Marsh Fuels, who are known for their support for local charities. It is great to see local businesses supporting us!
This was followed by grants from Greenham Parish Council (£700), David Wilson Homes, (£1,000), The Miss Lawrence Trust, (£2,000), the Sir Jules Thorn Trust (£2,000) and Thatcham Town Council (£2,000).
The Welsh Choir event organised by Rotary Club of Newbury was another spectacular success, with WBTC volunteers helping in the background. We were delighted that, despite covid restrictions that limited how many could attend, this event resulted in us receiving £2,000 from the Rotary organisers.
Several of the grants above were match-funded by Greenham Trust, who so far this year have added over £7,000 to our funds, continuing their longstanding support towards our work.
Then in a very short period of time we were awarded grants of £3,000 from both Get Berkshire Active and The February Foundation, £5,000 from The Childwick Trust and an amazing £10,000 from The Edward Gostling Foundation.
Voluntary contributions from our grateful clients are also a very important part of our income and we are truly grateful for those donations, some of which enable us to claim Gift Aid.
We have also been very fortunate to have received an anonymous donation of £15,000 from one supporter and a legacy from our much loved and highly respected Trustee and client, Terri Costain, who left £25,000 towards our hydrotherapy project.
Other fund raising continues and Catherine Belcher is well past the 100 mile mark in her year-long sponsored 'Row-a-thon' using our seated rower. What an effort!
Thank you to all those mentioned above and to everyone else whose donations all add up and make an important difference!

Triathlon success!

John was "rowed" on dry land by the Centre's equipment for 6.8 kilometres, the same distance as the annual University Boat Race.
John completed the course in about an hour, taking about three times as long as the University crews usually need.
John's philosophical comment was that he did not have seven rowing companions, so he was pleased to have been able to 'row' so far and complete the course distance with the Centre's equipment having done nearly all the work. There was no perspiration and no Thames water in sight; a dry run?

In his attempt to use the Centre's seated climber to do the equivalent of 'climbing' the 2,722 ft high Burj Khalif, the world's highest building, John needed just 40 minutes, assisted by the Centre's seated climber, which compares well to the record holder who climbed the outside of the said building in six hours.
John was quick to agree that despite being helped to 'climb' so far, he did not have to battle against any prevailing wind and he had not experienced any vertigo because he was never more than four feet off the ground. But he felt totally exhilarated at having 'climbed' to such a dizzy height; all due to the Centre's power-assisted equipment. How else could he have got even close?

John celebrates completion of his fund raising power-assisted 'final stage of the Tour de France 2019'. In the real event the winner completed the stage in half the time, but John was delighted just to finish his 128km cycling challenge in one piece!

Fantastic opportunity to triple your donations to our Long-covid service on 18th and 19th June 2021

We are delighted that our new service to assess the benefits of power-assisted exercise for those affected by Long-covid has been chosen by Greenham Trust to be one of the charities to receive double match funding in the two days 18th and 19th June. The Centre is working closely with Dr Deepak Ravindran, Lead NHS Consultant for Long-covid in Berkshire West, who expects to refer over 100 Long-covid patients to the Centre for power-assisted exercise to help their recovery and rehabilitation.

The Centre has 16 items of specially adapted equipment that helps with the rehabilitation of many types of conditions where mobility is helped by gentle, repetitive movements. Donations towards this important project will be accepted and double matched on 18th and 19th June on the Good Exchange fund raising platform, by visiting The Good Exchange although the service is already open to anyone with a diagnosis of Long-covid. Please wait until 18th or 19th June to make your donation otherwise it will not receive any match-funding!

Winter 2020/21

We are delighted to report grants from One Family Foundation, Keep Berkshire Active, Berkshire Nurses and Relief in Sickness Trust and the West Berkshire Community Fund, to help with equipment upgrades, IT and general resilience. Our very warmest thanks go to all these organisations for their support.

Autumn 2020

We have completely revised our layout to ensure that we can maintain 2 metre social distancing throughout, which is vital to protect the health needs of our clients, many of whom are either elderly or health-vulnerable. Much thought has gone into every aspect about how the Centre must operate in light of Covid-19. Our clients all seem to appreciate how we have tackled this to ensure their safety.

We will be reopening on Saturday 25th July!

We are pleased to let you know that we will be reopening our service on Saturday 25th July. A full Covid-19 risk assessment has been undertaken to ensure that everyone will be safe.

We have completely revised our layout to ensure that we can maintain 2 metre social distancing throughout, which is vital to protect the health needs of our clients, many of whom are either elderly or consider themselves health-vulnerable. Much thought has gone into every aspect about how the Centre will be operated in light of Covid-19. Our staff are training this week getting everything ready. Clients will find some new and unfamiliar procedures, but we know that most clients will appreciate why we need to do this, for everyone's safety.

We are starting to contact clients from today, explaining the main changes and initially taking bookings for those who we know will be able to use our service independently and without the need for any close physical assistance. As soon as possible we will then also take bookings from clients who need to be accompanied by their carer. We have to ensure that there will be enough space for all the people who will be on the premises, especially for those who must be accompanied.

We appreciate that some clients will be very apprehensive about getting back into the community, whereas others will be desperate to start exercising again. Our new Physiotherapist, Anna Nicolau Torrent, will be on hand to carry out any reassessments that will be needed following such a long period of clients having been less active than normal and our other staff and volunteers will be there to explain and reassure as always.

During our enforced lock down we kept all our eight part-time staff on the payroll and they are all looking forward to welcoming back as many clients as possible to help restore and maintain mobility and independence.

New grant!

We are delighted to announce a grant of £4,300 from the Pargiter Trust via the Berkshire Community Foundation for help in upgrading our power-assisted equipment. This commitment to us during a time of enforced shutdown is exceptional commitment and a heartwarming level of recognition of the difference we make to our needy clients. Thank you to both Trusts for this support!

New Patron - Richard Benyon

West Berkshire Therapy Centre is delighted to announce that Richard Benyon has agreed to become a Patron alongside existing Patrons Lady Anne Hallifax, Jacqueline Scoins-Cass MBE and Professor Christine Collins FRCP. Mr Benyon is a former MP for Newbury, a Trustee of the Englefield Charitable Trust, holds several directorships and is an ardent supporter of numerous charitable ventures.

Newbury Bridge Club

Newbury Bridge Club have come up Trumps with their annual Charity efforts for 2019.
At last nights AGM a cheque for £4721 was presented to John Holt [Trustee WBTC] by Club President Ann McMahon. The money was raised for The West Berks Therapy Centre in Thatcham, a charity providing physiotherapy for disabled people. It is hoped Greenham Trust will match fund this amount.
The Newbury Bridge Club play Bridge on most evenings of the week www.bridgewebs.com/newbury


Santa Fun Run 2019

Hazel. Mike and Norman turned out on a cool 1st December Sunday morning to urge on over 160 Santa Fun runners, who ran around Newbury's streets to raise funds for Newbury Rotary Club's chosen charities, of which we are delighted to be one.

Mike and Hazel inspiring some of the Santas before the start of the annual Rotary Santa Fun Run
Mike and Hazel inspiring some of the Santas before the start of the annual Rotary Santa Fun Run

Two grants awarded in a month

In the space of a week, West Berkshire Therapy Centre is delighted to have been awarded a grant of £3,000 from Greenham Common Trust and separately £5,000 from Berkshire Community Foundation. The awards are to help disabled adults with mobility problems to exercise under safe supervision on the Centre's specially adapted power-assisted equipment, helping to cover the costs of those in hardship and covering part of the Centre's core costs respectively.

The Centre's Development Trustee, John Holt, said 'About 70% of our costs are covered by voluntary contributions from local disabled people using our service. These two grants help us to bridge the gap between that income and the actual costs of running the service. We maintain a high level of professional oversight and service quality as we help local people with mobility problems to walk safely and further and be more independent. Our great team of volunteers help us keep our costs down, but we need to raise grants and secure other funds to maintain standards. These grants are very much appreciated. Between them these grants will allow us the equivalent of helping about 50 local frail or disabled individuals to walk about 10% further than otherwise, which is a transforming amount in terms of helping with vital tasks of daily living and remaining independent.'

The Centre has been open for over five years and provides over 250 individual exercise therapy sessions each week. It is still growing and readily able to provide more capacity for anyone in need of help.

David Wilson Homes Charity of the Month

On 21st August we were delighted that Fiona Smith and Adele Kelly visited the Centre and presented us with a cheque from David Wilson Homes, being their August Charity of the Month. Many thanks to Adele for nominating us and to the Directors of David Wilson Homes for their very generous support!

WBTC David Wilson Homes - John Holt, Irene Waters and Terri Costain with Fiona Smith and Adele Kelly at the West Berkshire Therapy Centre

WBTC David Wilson Homes - John Holt, Irene Waters and Terri Costain receiving the cheque from Fiona  Smith and Adele Kelly

Newbury Bridge Club - Annual charity night

On 16th August Newbury Bridge Club held its annual charity night, which raised close to £4,000 for our Centre, half this coming from an auction of pledges, with the remainder coming from ticket sales, a raffle and most of the food costs being covered by sponsors. We are particularly grateful to First Great Western and the Highclere Battle Proms Marketing Department for their donations of tickets which raised £220 and £120 respectively for us. We are hugely grateful to Newbury Bridge Club's Committee and players for this amazing support, particularly to Club Chairman David Barratt whose auctioneer's skills drove the bidding so high during the auction.

Newbury Bridge Club Charity Night 16th August 2019

Boules in the Market Place

For the fourth year in a row, volunteers from the Centre manned a stall in Newbury Market Place when the annual Rotary Boules event took place on 9th June.

The team raised £93 from a 'Treasure Hunt' game devised by Hazel. A major part of being there was to meet with the public and tell them about the West Berkshire Therapy Centre service, as well as to say our thanks to Newbury Rotary Club members for having adopted and supported us as their charity for 2018-19.

The WBTC team on the day were Hazel and Mike Allum, Norman Casson and John Holt. Our photo shows Norman and John meeting with the Mayor of Newbury Councillor Elizabeth O'Keefe.

Our Fifth Anniversary!

Over 100 staff, volunteers, clients and invited guests joined us on 1st April to celebrate five years of providing our service.

In that time we have helped over 1,000 clients, have provided over 50,000 individual exercise sessions and in our best ever week recently we provided 294 individual sessions that week.

Choral Fund Raising

The South Wales Male Choir sang their hearts out to a sell-out audience in St Nicolas Church on 2nd March, raising well over £8k for Newbury Rotary Club. We will be the main beneficiaries of this incredible fund raising evening and will announce the amount raised for us once we know. Well done Newbury Rotarians and all those who performed and otherwise helped!

2018 Year-end roundup news

We are delighted to share that Greenham Common Trust granted us the amazing sum of £5,000 on 7th November, to support our hardship fund. Many of our clients are unable to afford to offer us voluntary contributions and topping up our hardship fund helps us to cover such situations. Thank you Greenham Common Trust!

A group of WBTC volunteers put on aprons and chef's hats on 11th November and cooked sausages non-stop outside Homebase, Basingstoke, raising £202.92 on the day. The money was match-funded (doubled up) by Greenham Common Trust, which was really super, thank you! Everyone involved had to be on a diet for a week afterwards to recover! Well done to all our volunteers who turned out on the day, and to Homebase who were brilliant hosts.

The final amount raised by Co-op customers using the Thatcham stores and directing their dividends to us has been revealed as a staggering £10,887.56! This followed a year of efforts put in by staff and customers alike. On 24th November, Trustee John Holt toured all four local Co-op stores to thank their staff and customers, with the cheque being banked by us around the same time. Everyone is delighted such a large amount has been raised. Our very warmest thanks to all the Co--op staff and to their customers who supported us.

We were delighted to receive a cheque on 29th November for £900 from John Lewis, the proceeds of their shopping customers voting for us over recent months. Many thanks to John Lewis Partnership and their customers for this wonderful support.

The customers at Thatcham's Waitrose store used their green tokens to vote for us during October and this raised the sum of £259, which we received on 2nd December. Our thanks go to the Waitrose team and their customers for supporting our Centre in this way.

The Christmas raffle was drawn on 18th December. Clients and supporters had donated dozens of super gifts and 356 tickets were sold. After match-funding from Greenham Common Trust the raffle raised £712. Many thanks to Greenham Trust, to Margaret and Catherine who did the majority of the organising and to everyone who donated prizes or bought tickets or otherwise helped.

We are very honoured that on 9th January the Committee of the Aldermaston and Wasing Show has agreed that, for the third year in a row we will be one of their charities of the year. At the Show last year we raised £150 at our stall and the Committee also granted us £150 from the Show proceeds. WBTC Trustee, John Holt, attended their 2019 AGM to thank them for their support last year and it was great to see how much the Show organisers wish to recognise ongoing the value of the Centre and the difference we make. We will have our stall at the Show on Saturday 7th September and encourage everyone to get along on that day to support the 2019 Aldermaston and Wasing Show. It's always a great Show and a great afternoon of fun!

Waitrose Featured Charity of the month - October 2018

We will be one of the featured charities of Waitrose Thatcham throughout October. We want to encourage as many people as possible who shop at Waitrose to put their green tokens in our box. We will get a share of £1,000 (split between three charities) at the end of the month!

Aldermaston & Wasing Show

A team of eleven volunteers manned our annual stall at the Aldermaston & Wasing Show on a sunny 1st September, raising just over £150, raising awareness and making many useful contacts with those in need of our service. Well done and thank you to everyone involved!

Norman, Mike, Hazel, Joy, Bobby, Roy, Bob, Jorun and John raising a cheer before the Aldermaston and Wasing Show. Sara and Margaret were somewhere behind the camera!

Rotary Club Boules Event, Newbury

On 10th June members of the fund-raising team manned our stall at the annual Boules event in Newbury Market Place, organised by Newbury Rotary Club. The Mayor of Newbury paid us a visit and the photo shows our Chairman, Norman Casson describing to her what we do and the difference we make.

The stall raised just under £125 to boost our funds and several members of the public said how grateful they were to meet us. We look forward to some of them using our service soon! Thanks to Hazel for organising the stall and to her, Mike, Sara, Norman and John for manning the stall and for talking with prospective service users and with members of the public.

Co-op support this year

We are delighted to have been chosen by the Co-op as one of three local causes they are supporting during the period 12th November 2017 - 27th October 2018. With your help we can raise at least £10,000 from this opportunity.

If you are not already a Co-op member, please pop into any Co-op store, petrol station or funeral parlour and ask to become one. Then nominate us as your chosen local charity. Then every time you buy Co-op branded goods or services, get the Co-op staff to swipe your membership card and that will increase our share of the 1% of the Co-op dividend being distributed among its three chosen local causes. The more Co-op members who nominate West Berkshire Therapy Centre and who buy Co-op branded goods, the greater the share we will receive!

Please get involved with this great opportunity and also ask your family and friends to do the same; a great way to help our Centre meet its costs and help as many as possible to benefit from our service.

Thank you to the Co-op and thank you for your support!

Aldermaston & Wasing Show

On 2nd September eight WBTC volunteers helped to set up and man our stall at the 75th Aldermaston and Wasing Show. We were one of two charities of the year being supported by the Show organisers and we look forward to receiving a share of the proceeds of their renowned 'Duck Race' once the outcome of the event is known.

We are most grateful to the Aldermaston and Wasing Show Committee for providing us with a free plot at the Show and for all their other help and support towards the work of the Centre. The photo shows Bobby, Hazel, Mike, Joy, Bob and Norman at the stall and thanks to Sara and John who also helped on the day and to everyone who donated prizes and items to sell. And a special thanks to Hazel for all her preparatory work before the big day!

Quiz Night

Another Quiz Night on 25th August raised a wonderful £620. Thanks to Catherine, Margaret and David for organising the event, also to the Conservative Club that provided the venue at no charge, to the caterers, to everyone who donated raffle prizes and to the 75 plus who attended on the night, making a very successful evening all round. The questions were tough, meaning that many teams spent much of the evening looking thoughtful, doubtful or unsure and everyone deserved a prize for trying. There were a lot of 'prize winners' as three teams had to share the wooden spoon!

Masonic Charity help

We are delighted that volunteers from the Berkshire Masonic Charity have not only decorated our staff room but have also now assembled some storage units so that the staff room is finally a more comfortable and less cluttered place for staff and volunteers to take their breaks. Many thanks to the hard-working Berkshire Masonic Volunteer Team, cheerfully led by Mike.

St James's Place Foundation Gant

We are most grateful to the St James's Place Foundation for a grant of £500 towards further equipment that we need to purchase in response to ideas from those using our service. We are seeking further capital funds, sufficient to buy an Ultrasonic Relaxer Chair, also to upgrade some of our range of existing chairs with interactive technology.

Masonic Charitable Foundation Votes Needed!

We need your vote! Help us win up to £25,000 by voting in the MCF Community Awards

The Masonic Charitable Foundation is giving away £3 million to 300 charities across England and Wales to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the United Grand Lodge of England. It's up to the public to decide which charities get the largest grants through an online vote.

The vote is open from 12 June - 31 July 2017. Help us make an even bigger difference to our beneficiaries and win a share of the £3 million by voting today.

Once you have voted, please encourage your friends, family and colleagues to do the same.

Search for land!

WBTC needs a level plot of development land, not less than 0.5 acres, on which to construct a community hydrotherapy pool building

Download the requirement prospectus

Queen's Award for Voluntary Service

Queen's Award for Voluntary Service

On 2nd June 2017 the London Gazette announced that West Berkshire Therapy Centre has been awarded the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, just three years after first starting its service. The award is equivalent to an MBE for a voluntary organisation!

This pays tribute to the many, excellent individuals who volunteer and help The Centre in a very wide set of roles, ensuring that our service is provided to the highest possible standard.

This follows WBTC receiving a Gold Community Award from Thatcham Town Council last month, recognising its contribution in helping the townspeople of Thatcham.

The Trustees most warmly thank and congratulate all the WBTC volunteers and staff for everything they have done and for their wonderful personal commitment and their teamwork.

The Queen's Award certificate will be handed to WBTC Trustees and volunteers at an official event later this year, an occasion to which we all look forward with great anticipation!

 

Aldermaston and Wasing Show

West Berkshire Therapy Centre is delighted to have been adopted by the Aldermaston and Wasing Show as one of this year's two chosen charities, for which we are absolutely delighted.
The Show features a Duck Race, at which Show-goers back the ducks, with the chance of fame and fortune, one of the major fund-raising events of the Show, from which we will receive a share of the surplus.



We will be there with a fund-raising and awareness stand and we are most fortunate to have the opportunity to raise both publicity and funds.
To find out more about Aldermaston and Wasing Show visit www.awshow.org.uk
The Show this year will be held on Saturday 2nd September at The Old Mill Aldermaston and we encourage everyone to get along and enjoy a great day out!

March 2017

We are delighted to have received further grant aid from two sources this month: Firstly £2,000 from Englefield Trust, followed by £4,000 from Berkshire Community Foundation, all to help us with general running costs and developing our service. We are immensely grateful for the opportunities these grants provide, to help us further to improve the way we make a difference for our clients.

February 2017

We are most grateful to the Berkshire Masonic Charity for providing a team of volunteers to fit new blinds and to decorate our staff room with paint supplied by Berkshire Community Foundation. We are most grateful for these acts of practical help, improving the operating and working environment for our clients and staff, following their earlier support in helping to fund our automatic door opener.

2nd July

Once again we were on the streets of Newbury, this time with the help of Newbury Branch of David Clulow Opticians, courtesy of the Branch Director, Scott Waters, who sponsored our gazebo which was outside his shop all day on Saturday 2nd July. This brought us to the attention of a lot of people in need of our special service and we look forward to welcoming new clients as the word spreads that we are here. Many thanks to Scott and his staff for hosting and looking after our volunteers on the day, with a constant stream of warm drinks. Our thanks go also to our volunteers on the day, Margaret, John, Hazel, Mike, Bob and John, also to everyone who donated prizes for the Lucky Dip, which raised just over £100.

26th June

A big thank you to Rotary Club of Newbury for allowing us pride of place next to the French Boules event they held in Newbury Market Place on Sunday 26th June. We really appreciate the opportunity to be able to out there with the public and able to let everyone know about the difference we make. Well done Rotary Club of Newbury and many thanks to volunteers Norman, Bob, John and Irene who helped on the day!

Move Update

Our move to The Frank Hutchings Hall went very smoothly, thanks to the help of staff and volunteers, with our two main suppliers sending in their engineers to reconfigure the equipment, all supported by a specialist removals company. A huge thank you to everyone who turned out to help, not forgetting those helping behind the scenes. Other than hitches with BT and the phones and Internet connection, we reopened calmly at 10 am on Saturday 2nd April with our clients clearly impressed with what they saw and experienced.

Some of our existing equipment has been upgraded and four new machines are in place thanks to funds from our success at Greenham Common Trusts' 'Pitch to the Panel' event last November. The new equipment will come into use progressively as each client is reassessed, to ensure they receive the most appropriate exercise programme we can provide.

Chief Executive of Greenham Common Trust, Chris Boulton, visited The Centre on 4th April to see how the Trust's funds had been spent and he was clearly delighted at what he saw and heard. We were joined by the Mayor of Thatcham, Councillor Sheila Ellison, and by John Winchcombe and Tim Pritchard from The Rotary Club of Newbury who had acted as mentors at the successful Pitch to the Panel. Our Patron, Jacqueline Scoins-Cass MBE also joined us, along with many staff and volunteers.

Also present at that special event was Claire Tyrell, Director of Programmes for Berkshire Community Foundation, armed with the fabulous news that they have awarded us a grant of £5,000 to help cover our rent increase in our first year at The Frank Hutchings Hall, sufficient to protect our finances until the expected increase in use of our service is covered by the voluntary contributions from clients. A huge thank you to Berkshire Community Foundation for that!

Quiz Night Success!

The quiz night raised a magnificent £772

Thank you to everyone who kindly donated prizes, bought tickets, bid in the auction or otherwise helped to raise such a fantastic amount!

West Berkshire Therapy Centre New Home!

West Berkshire Therapy Centre has moved to its new home! The service that previously was provided at Clerewater Place, then more recently at The Moors Pavilion, opened in much more permanent premises on 2nd April at The Frank Hutchings Hall, Harts Hill, Thatcham RG18 4QH. The new location offers ideal space and access, with excellent parking and other facilities suitable for disabled individuals in need of a safe place in which to take exercise under expert and understanding supervision.

The service is unique in the South of England and already helps over 200 people each week who have mobility or other problems and who therefore are unable to exercise safely in the way most people manage. The enlarged Centre includes several new items of specialised equipment. A unique motorised chair helps disabled individuals to practise rising from sitting to standing, and other unique equipment helps the body's major muscles move in ways that are important to perform tasks of daily living better. Some very specialised new equipment helps those in need to practise and improve their balance. The Centre has upgraded some other equipment with more interactive display screens, in particular to help those in need to balance their left and right muscles. The Centre now offers eighteen major items of exercise equipment, including power-assisted cycling machines and a sophisticated treadmill designed to help build confidence in walking safely.

The equipment changes arose from listening to practical problems described by the Centre's disabled clients, followed by discussions between the Centre's physiotherapists and suppliers to create unique solutions to make a difference and keep disabled people more mobile and safe. Many of the equipment changes were funded by Greenham Common Trust, following West Berkshire Therapy Centre's success in being awarded over £32k at their 'Pitch to the Panel' event held last November. The Centre is most grateful to have numerous other sponsors and supporters and to its great team of staff and many volunteers.

Chris Boulton, Chief Executive of Greenham Common Trust, visited the Centre on 4th April to see how his Trust's grant had been spent as he joined with the Mayor of Thatcham, staff, volunteers, clients and others to celebrate the opening of the enlarged facilities. The Centre is always delighted to show visitors its facilities.

The Centre is most grateful to Thatcham Town Council for its help in making The Frank Hutchings Hall available, allowing the Centre to develop and grow with confidence. The Centre has the capacity to provide well over 10,000 exercise sessions each year to help those with mobility challenges to be more active, safe and independent.

West Berkshire Therapy Centre march on!

West Berkshire Therapy Centre has announced that it has been awarded registered charity status at the same time that is to relocate to much larger premises at Frank Hutchins Hall in Thatcham on 1st April 2016, just two years after first opening.

When the service relocates it will also install new equipment, funded by the grant received at the Greenham Common Trust "Pitch to the Panel" event in November. The new equipment is all motorized and will help disabled individuals to move more easily, helping with practical things such as getting out of a chair and improving balance

Cake bake


John from West Berkshire Therapy Centre thanking Kirsty Wretham and Josh Blackwood of SMS Environmental for their support, following their successful cake bake event.

Race Night - Thursday 29th October

Our Race Night raised a wonderful £878 for the Centre! Many thanks to everyone who helped organise the event, attended on the night or provided raffle prizes and support

Reducing the risk of pressure sores for wheelchair users

Pressure sores are a potential problem for many wheelchair users and to others spending long periods of time sitting down. The risk can be reduced if the seating is correctly designed and adjusted. Recently the West Berkshire Wheelchair and Seating service acquired a novel, high tech mat to help check if any of its wheelchairs need adjusting, to help reduce the risk of users developing pressure sores. The cost of such sores can be high, both to individual wheelchair users who could face months of discomfort and a restricted social life, and to the NHS where the medical treatment bills can run to thousands of pounds.

West Berkshire Therapy Centre's clients include many wheelchair users, some of whom find the journey to the Wheelchair Service's clinic at the Royal Berkshire Hospital too difficult. So staff at the Therapy Centre invited the NHS Wheelchair and Seating Service to hold a 'surgery' at their Centre in Thatcham, booking in a dozen wheelchair users whose pressure risks were assessed and reduced by the NHS staff, with several vital adjustments made to the wheelchairs.

The high tech assessment mat is packed with sensors that send an image to a computer screen, showing up any pressure hot spots. By adjusting things such as the width of the chair, the shape or length of the cushion, footrest and armrest positions, etc, the pressure profile can be spread more evenly, hence reducing the risk that the wheelchair user might put too much pressure on any one part of the skin

Lead Occupational Therapist at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Moyra Pugh, said 'from our point of view that was a very successful afternoon. Wheelchairs were adjusted, minor repairs and pressure care readings were taken and new wheelchairs, cushions and parts were ordered. The comments from the wheelchair users were very positive and it was well worth doing.'

West Berkshire Therapy Centre is unique in the country. Its power-assisted equipment helps people with movement problems and other disabilities to take exercise safely, helping to improve mobility, walk better with less risk of falls, helping weight management and general well-being. The Centre moved recently to the Pavilion at The Moors Sports Field in Thatcham, providing about 200 individual exercise sessions each week and is one of the finalists in Greenham Common Trust's "Pitch to the Panel" event on 12th November.

John Holt, Director

Relocation of West Berkshire Therapy Centre

We are moving in October from Clerewater Place to our new address, which is:

The Sports Pavilion,
The Moors Playing Field,
The Moors,
Thatcham
RG19 3AZ

The final day at Clerewater Place, will be 14th October. We will be unable to provide any service on 15th and 16th October while the equipment is moved. Our phone number will remain unchanged, as 01635 864561.

We look forward to starting our service on Monday 19th October at The Sports Pavilion and would like to thank everyone for their understanding and support.

West Berkshire Disability Alliance AGM

On 10th September WBTC hosted the AGM of West Berkshire Disability Alliance (WBDA during which over twenty WBDA members enjoyed a tour of the site.


Chairman Mick Hutchins and WBDA members assembling befor their AGM

Charity Day success

We are delighted to have received a cheque for £4,500 from Donnington Valley Golf Club, money raised on their charity day on 18th July.
It is super to have so much support from the local golfing community.
Thank you to everyone who took part and helped make the event such a success and thanks to those of our service users who proposed us to be a beneficiary of this wonderful event.

Vacancies

We have vacancies for an experienced Physiotherapist and a Therapy Gym Supervisor
Saturday work, to cover opening hours of 10 - 3. Competitive salaries with a Saturday allowance.
Fixed-term contract positions to 31st March 2016, with the possibility of an extension.
Please download the full details here or email johnmholtbsc@aol.com for more information.

Mayor's Fundraising

Following a very busy year working for his officially adopted charities for 2014-15, we were delighted to receive a cheque for a magnificent £1,706.34 from Councillor Gary Johnson, Mayor of Thatcham, at his annual civic reception on 1st May. As well as this money, Gary raised very considerable publicity for the Centre in his year in office. Well done and thank you from everyone at WBTC!

Welford Park Snowdrops

Welford Park very kindly selected us to be one of their charities for 2015. A team of volunteers manned our stall on 22nd February, selling plants and birthday cards, also running a tombola of teddies and chocolates. Thanks to everyone who donated things or helped on the day. Mr & Mrs Puxley who own Welford Park will present us with a cheque shortly, from entrance money on the day, so a huge thanks to them too.

Valentine's Day Raffle

Our Valentine's Day raffle raised a fantastic £110. Thanks to everyone who donated prizes or bought tickets and to Tesco which provided a beautiful bouquet to add to the other four prize packages. A giant Teddy donated by a WBTC client was the star prize!

Seasonal closing

We plan to close early on 24th December and all day on 25th and 26th December and 1st January, otherwise it will be business as usual. We recommend that everyone maintains their exercise programmes as far as normal.

Christmas Hamper

Irene Texel is organising a Christmas Hamper which will include a home made Christmas Cake, chocolates, other seasonal goodies and necessities. Tickets will go on sale soon at 50p each and the draw will take place on 20th December. All proceeds will go towards the Centre's running costs. Thanks again Irene!

November open days

Visitors welcome! Our open days on 8th and 13th November attracted a good mix of interest. It is always a pleasure to show people round the Centre, something we can do during opening hours or at other times by arrangement. Call our main number: 01635 864561.

6th October

A big thank you goes to Irene Texel and her team of helpers for raising £258 for us at the 'Coffee and cakes' day on 6th October. A superb display of home baking in the foyer and kitchen had mouths watering and the super raffle prizes tempted many people to buy tickets. Irene received help from many quarters, including from those who made cakes, provided prizes, sold tickets, served refreshments, washed up or who performed the many other tasks that make theses events a success. Thank you to everyone who helped. The final sum raised is likely to exceed £300 as the produce left over from the main event continues to bring in donations. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the amount raised.

8th September

Our two part time Gym Supervisors, Serap and Gill have both left for new pastures and we thank them both for their huge commitment and help in getting us established. We wish them both well for the future. We are delighted that Emily Herbert has joined us as our full time Gym Supervisor. Emily has a BA in Coaching and Physical Education.

28th August

Following her 'return to practice' time with us, we are delighted that Rhiannon Swain has joined our team of registered physiotherapists. Rhiannon will cover Thursdays and Fridays, while Tom Rosier, who has been with us from day one, will cover the other weekdays, giving us the full physiotherapy cover we had always planned. We are very grateful to Tom for providing us with a huge amount of extra cover through our opening months. We know that Tom and Rhiannon will make a great physiotherapist team.

17th July 2014 - 23rd July 2014

Road closure may affect access to the centre whilst road repairs are being carried out. The section of road outside the turning to Clerewater place may be closed but access is still possible. From Newbury follow the diversion signs down Pound Lane then turn right into the closed section of Lower Way. If coming from Thatcham down Lower Way continue past the road closed sign and into Clerewater place as usual.

16th July 2014

Clients are asked to note that we will be closed all day on Wednesday 16th July for staff training. We apologise for any inconvenience.

8th July

Our landlord will not allow us to erect a permanent ramp in the car park and we are aware that our temporary ramp does not suit every type of wheelchair. We are looking for a 'single sheet' design, about four feet in length, should anyone know of one that we might acquire.

7th July

We have been delighted that demand for the two 'cycling machines', more properly called TheraVital full body exercisers has been so high that we have decided to seek help to raise the £6.5k needed to buy a third machine. If anyone can help us to find funds quickly for this please contact any of the Directors.

29th June

We will be at the Thatcham Fun Day later today, with one of our TheraVital ‘cycling machines on display at Henwick. Come along and show your friends what these brilliant machines can do!

26th June

We are delighted to welcome Gill Tancock as our Thursday Gym Supervisor. Gill has a background in nursing and will a valuable addition to our salaried staff working alongside Tom and Serap.

17th June

We look forward to Millie Burbage joining us for the summer as a volunteer on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Millie is studying pharmacology prior to studying medicine and will add a youthful dimension to our existing volunteer team of Gill, Betty, Rita, Gillian, Margaret, Chreanne and John!

1st June 2014

From Friday we will be extending our opening hours, so that every weekday we will be open from 10.00 - 15.00 hrs.